To prepare for the introduction of the new ACW Central Payment System on 25th February 2014 your organisation need to nominate one person to register as a Finance User on the system. This Finance User should be someone with the authority to make purchases by credit/debit card or by BACS transfer. Your Finance User will be responsible for ensuring payments are made for your apprenticeship certificates from 25th February 2014.

Once you have identified who should be your Finance User can you please ask them to complete the Finance User Registration form.

Once the registration process is complete we will email the Finance User login details for the Central Payment System. These details will allow them to pre-purchase certificate credits for use on ACW and give them access to reports which will detail candidates paid for through the new system.

Please register a Finance User as soon as possible to ensure your organisation is ready to certificate candidates through the new Central Payment System from 25th February 2014.

If you have any queries about who should be your Finance User or any other questions about the new payment system please contact the Support Team at acwcps@fisss.org or on 0844 326 7565.

Soon, applications for Welsh Apprenticeship certificates will be made to a central point instead of to one of 25 certification bodies.

The Federation for Industry Sector Skills and Standards is the certifying authority for Apprenticeships in Wales and hosts Apprenticeship Certification Wales, acwcerts.co.uk, to whom applications for certificates and payments will be made with effect from Tuesday 25th February. The assessment of applications will continue to be carried out within ten days by the certification bodies.

This change will generate greater consistency in terms of how applications and payments are received, providing a ‘one-stop-shop’ for individual applicants, employers, training providers and colleges.

Payment will remain the same (£22 per certificate) and will be made with the application. There will be two options for paying through the Central Payment System, either:

1. Pre-pay by credit/debit card or BACS transfer – this option will allow you to bulk buy credits for certificates that will be added to a balance on the ACW system, and deducted when candidates are submitted.

2. One off payment (pay as you go) – This option will allow you to use a credit/debit card to pay for the certificate when you submit the Apprenticeship certification claim for approval.

Only one person within the training organisation will be authorised to purchase credits for Apprenticeship certification and will be assigned to the Finance User role. This person should have the authority to make purchases by credit/debit card or by BACS transfer. Before your organisation can submit any learners for certification through the Central Payment System your Finance User will need to complete a registration form.

We hope to have the registration form available next week for you to begin registering on the new ACW Central Payment System. We advise that you register as soon as possible to minimise any disruption when the Central Payment System is implemented. Guidance documents will be available soon to help you with the cross-over to the new payment system.

We will be sending you regular emails and system notifications to keep you up to date with registration, guidance and any other information you will need to use the new ACW Central Payment System.

If you have any queries please email the ACW Central Payment System team on acwcps@fisss.org or call 0844 326 7565.

Unfortunately due to a system error no automated emails were sent from ACW to system users between 26 December 2013 and midday 7 January 2014.

This error has now been corrected and all automated emails from this period have been sent this afternoon. Please be aware some of the emails received today contain historic information so please check the system directly for up-to-date information, for example, you may receive emails regarding candidate rejections which have now been resolved.

If you have any questions please contact the ACE team at acw@fisss.org.